Karim Khan Zand

List of Illustrations



Preface







1 IRAN AND THE WORLD IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY



Iran and its People



The Safavid Dynasty



Nader Shah Afshar



First-Person Testimony: Sheikh Hazin







2 THE RETURN OF THE ZANDS



The Lurs Go Home



Safavid Pretenders



Enter the Qajars



Pretenders Lost and Found







3 THE CONQUEST OF THE NORTH, 1759-1763



Exploits of Mohammad Khan and Sheykh-Ali Khan Zand



First-Person Testimony: Le Sieur Simon



Neutralization of the Qajars



Azerbaijan: The Defeat of Azad and Fath-Ali Khan







4 CONSOLIDATION OF THE CENTER, 1763-1766



Retribution and purges



Reconquest of the south: the revolt of Zaki Khan Zand



Lar, Yazd, and Kerman: the two Taqis



Curbing the Qajars, 1759-1777







5 THE PERSIAN GULF AND KHUZISTAN



Kharg Island: The Dutch and Mir Mahanna



Perspicacious Semi-Fiction: The "Rostam of Histories"



The Banu Ka'b



War with the Pashalik of Baghdad, 1774-1779







6 KARIM KHAN'S DEATH AND SUCCESSION, 1779-1795



Reigns of Zaki, Sadeq, Ali-Morad, and Ja'far Khan Zand (1779-1789)



Lotf-Ali Khan Zand (1789-1994)



First-Person Testimony: Mr Jones and Lotf-Ali Khan's diamonds



The Qajar Conquest







7 PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT AND FOREIGN RELATIONS



Western approaches



The Caspian Rim and Azerbaijan



Georgia and Transaraxia: into the Russian Orbit



Ottoman Turkey and India



The Dutch and French East India Companies



The British East India Company







8 KARIM KHAN'S CHARACTER AND ACHIEVEMENTS



The people's deputy



Religious policies



Rebuilding the economy



Rebuilding Shiraz



Leisure and the arts



The legend and the legacy







Bibliography



Index